Now, i imagine i change my prof and become a pirate.
I'll take such an open outboarder skiff, fill up petrol and take sufficient water and provisions for me and my "colleagues" and sail out to such a position "in the middle of the nowhere"
Does that seem realistic, somehow ? I'd say: not.
Would they sit out there, in their open skiff, without shelter, without radar etc pp, waiting for the odd ship passing by ? I'd say: not.
So, how comes, that such a ship is being attacked out there ?
Answer: knowledge. They'd know who'd be where and when.
To me that sounds more realistic.
Now - we've had an old lady, heading for the beaches, merely crawling thru these pirate infested waters recently. Rather say: some power assisted drifting. Nobody cared at all. Assume they knew beforehad, what was coming, and what would have been coming, had they captured her:
the answer might have been: allright, keep her....